Regional Championship
Day 1 Started
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Horseshoe Hammond
Regional Championship
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Horseshoe Hammond
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$2,101,800
Entries
226
Level
29
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Welcome Back To Hammond!
PokerNews welcomes you back to Hammond, Indiana for the World Series of Poker Circuit! Today kicks off the first of four $10,000 Regional Championship events to be held throughout the season.
The numbers for the preliminary events and the Main Event didn't disappoint, with a sea of people filling The Venue at the Horseshoe Hammond. Today, we are expecting a field of roughly 250 players to pony up $10,000 and there should be plenty of big names taking to the felt. Among those confirmed to play include Barry Greenstein, Jason Mercier, Chad Brown, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Allen Bari, Allen Kessler, Matt Glantz, Jean Gaspard, Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Aguiar, James Carroll and many other familiar names.
With the circuit season in full gear, players have earned themselves some points for the National Championship race and you can check out the leader board to see where everyone stands.
The tournament was scheduled kick off today at 12:00 p.m. local time here in Hammond, Indiana, but there will be a bit of a delay before the cards are in the air. There is another media outlet here and due to WSOP media restrictions, we can only bring you one update an hour, so stay tuned to PokerNews' coverage updates. We'll be on the floor the entire time to fill you in on everything that happens. See you in a bit!
Almost Set to Go
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Tournament Director Jack Effel is on the mic right now welcoming the players to the first-ever Circuit Regional Championship and thanking them for making the trip. There'll be a few announcements and a rundown of the tournament rules to come.
We should be under way in just a moment.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
Let's Get it On!
The cards are in the air, and the Regional Championship is officially a go!
We'll be bringing you a full, level-long update at the conclusion of this first 60 minutes.
In the meantime, you can check out the chip count page to see the list of players we're tracking today. We should also probably tell you that tournament rivals Matt Stout and Allen Bari (who absolutely despise each other) are table mates to start Day 1. We'll be keeping a close eye on the action there, and it should make for some quotable table talk if recent history is any indication.
At the moment, there are 157 entrants and registration will remain open until the end of dinner break, roughly 8:00pm.
Little Action in the First Level of this Star-Studded Field
Not much action went down in the first level of play here in Hammond for this $10,000 WSOP Circuit Regional Championship. The field is chock full of big names and notable players. Just check our chip count page for the list of people we've spotted in the field today. Here's some of the action from the first level.
Selbst Asks To See Jaka’s Hand – 12:30 PM
We arrived at the table and found a pot brewing between Vanessa Selbst and Faraz Jaka. Selbst, in the small blind, had 1,025 invested in the pot while Jaka, under the gun, had 2,800 in the middle. Selbst took her time and put in another raise, this one to 8,100. Jaka called and the flop came down 
.
Selbst checked and Jaka paused for a few moments before betting 4,000, getting a call from Selbst. That would be the last of the action as both players checked the 
turn card and 
river card. Before revealing her hand, Selbst asked the dealer about what this casino’s policy was when it came to revealing hands, clearly wanting to see Jaka’s cards. We aren’t sure what exactly the dealer told her, but after tabling her 
for kings full she asked to see Jaka’s holdings, which turned out to be 
. Jaka, though not too peeved, did mention it was not best etiquette.
Selbst upped her stack to about 43,000 while Jaka slipped to about 17,500.
Jaka Sliding – 12:50 PM
On an 
board, a raising war ensued between Faraz Jaka and David “ODB” Baker. Baker’s 1,325 bet at the flop was raised to 3,250 by Jaka, though Baker came back over the top and made it 7,050 to play. Jaka gave it up and dropped to just a tad more than 15,000. Baker is up to about 34,000.
Mercier Gets Paid Off – 1:06 PM
With the board reading 
, Jason Mercier’s bet of 1,700 was called by one of his two opponents in the hand. Mercier tabled 
for a straight to win the pot and increase his stack to about 37,000.
Who's Here? - 1:10 PM
Among those taking their seats during Level 1 were Full Tilt Red Pros Justin Smith, Jordan Morgan, Steve Zolotow, Jeff Madsen, and Brandon Adams. Also arriving were Dave Sands, Nick Binger, Nenad Medic, Bryn Kenney, Keven Stammen, Shawn Busse, Tom Marchese, Chad Brown, and Peter Jetten. Registration will remain open through the dinner break so you can expect that number of 206 entrants to rise plenty throughout the day.
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Field Size Grows Slowly, Mercier Doubles, Selbst Checks a Straight and Lee Bests Saul
There still hasn't been much action at all going down on the floor. Jason Mercier doubled up to about 70,000 after his aces took down the 
from an opponent on a king-high flop. Allen Bari lost a ton of his chips to Brett Richey, who's now up to about 65,000 himself. Other than that, there's a lot of talking going on a little poker playing.
The big conversation has been about the amount of players that have showed up to the event. Before the event started, the tournament staff was hopeful of matching the numbers that the Bellagio received for its World Poker Tour Festa al Lago event that just concluded. That number was 335 and as of right now, the number of 212 isn't anywhere close to that. Field size isn't everything though, despite what your girlfriend may tell you. This field is one of the most elite fields we've seen in WSOP Circuit history and you can bet that any of the latecomers from here on out will be notable names.
Lee Bests Saul – 1:36 PM
On a 
board, Kevin Saul bet 1,350 into a pot of about 3,000. Chad Brown gave it up, but Bernard Lee made the call and showed 
, better than Saul’s holding. Lee moved up to about 35,000 while Saul dropped to about 28,000.
Bell Wins The Battle of Players Named Chris – 1:52 PM
We arrived at the table just in time to find Chris Bell raising Chris Tryba’s bet of 1,850 to 5,850 on a 
board. Tryba tanked for about two minutes and called, seeing the 
hit the river. Bell shoved for 8,550 and Tryba thought it over for about a minute before giving it up, slipping to about 32,000. Bell is back up to about 24,000.
Binger Shoves Smith Out – 2:01 PM
The flop read 
and when we arrived at the table, we saw a bet of 500 from Justin Smith, a raise to 1,375 by the player on the button, and a check-re-raise from Nick Binger to 4,100 from the small blind. Smith put in a fourth bet and made it 10,600 to go. The player on the button folded and Binger tanked about about 90 seconds before moving all in. Smith folded quickly, surrendering the pot to Binger.
Binger: Up to about 37,000
Smith: Down to roughly 21,000
Checking Straights - 2:08 PM
Vanessa Selbst raised to 300 from middle position and Faraz Jaka called from the cutoff seat. Matt Brady called from the button and then the big blind made the call as well.
The fours players saw the flop come down 
and the big blind checked. Selbst fired 550 with Jaka and Brady folding behind her. The big blind made the call.
The turn brought the and the big blind checked. Selbst checked behind.
The river completed the board with the and the big blind checked. Selbst thought for a while and then checked behind again.
Both players held an eight in their hand to make a straight. Selbst held the 
and the big blind had the 
. They chopped up the pot and McLean Karr put it best, "That was rather lame, guys."
Level: 3
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
Selbst v. Jaka Again, Aguiar Tank-Folds, Powell Gets a Boost
Stout WIns On Flop - 2:40 PM
From under the gun, Allen Kessler limped. Matt Stout limped from the cutoff seat and then Jordan Morgan called from the button. The player in the small blind completed before Frank Kassela raised to 850 from the big blind. Kessler and Stout were the only two who came along to see the flop.
The flop came down all one color and all the same suit, 
. Kassela and Kessler checked. Stout fired 1,700 and both his opponents folded.
Jaka's River Bet Wins Against Karr - 2:41 PM
McLean Karr raised from the cutoff seat to 400 and was called by Faraz Jaka in the next seat on the button. The two players saw the flop come down 
and Karr fired 625. Jaka called to see the come out on the turn. Both checked and the river completed the board with the . Karr checked and Jaka fired 2,000. Karr let it go and Jaka won this pot.
Klodnicki Can't Call - 2:48 PM
After the player in the hijack seat raised to 400, Chris Klodnicki reraised to 1,100. The original raiser called and the two saw a flop of . The hijack checked and Klodnicki checked behind.
Fourth street brought the and the hijack fired 1,500. That prompted a short pause from Klodnicki, but he eventually folded his hand.
Binger Falling - 3:04pm
Nick Binger is down to about 22,000 after running into the nuts. He check-called bets of 2,000 and 5,000 on the turn and river of a 
board, but saw his opponent roll over 
for the straight. Binger tossed his cards into the muck, quietly saying he had a set.
Selbst Gets The Better of Jaka Again – 3:11pm
With the board reading 
, Faraz Jaka bet roughly 1,300 into a pot of about 2,000. Vanessa Selbst raised to 3,800 and Jaka called, mucking when Selbst showed .
Selbst: Up to about 52,000
Jaka: Down to about 15,000
Aguiar in Agony - 3:16 PM
We picked up the action a bit late, joining the pot as the dealer put the turn card onto a 
. We'll infer that Jonathan Aguiar was the preflop raiser based on his under-the-gun position, but he checked on fourth street. His lone opponent, Gavin Smith stuck out a bet of 2,125, and Aguiar flicked in the call.
That brought them to the river, and Aguiar knocked the table one last time. Smith wasn't slowing down, and he tossed two orange chips into the pot for a bet of 10,000 straight. Aguiar would spend the next couple minutes in the tank, a pained look on his face as he toyed with the decision.
“You have, like, four-seven?” Aguiar half-asked. “Or the deuce-four? Must be nice to have one of those stray fours.” It was another couple minutes of torture in the tank for Aguiar, but he eventually uncapped his cards and returned them to the dealer. He's back to 34,000 now, while Smith pips just ahead of him with 35,000 courtesy of that pot.
Powell Planning On Check-Raising – 3:21 PM
From the button, Adam Levy raised to 400, and he found calls from both the small (Brian Powell) and big blinds. Three ways to the flop, the dealer put out , and the blinds let Levy continue out with 550 chips. Powell called and the big blind folded, and the appeared on fifth street. Powell checked again, and he called another bet from Levy, 1,300 this time.
The filled out the board on the river, and Powell checked for the third time. Levy wasn't slowing down now, and he overbet the pot with a wager of 6,000. Powell spent a couple minutes considering before saying, “I was planning on check-raising you,” as he stuck the calling chips into the pot. “Flush,” he said, tabling the . It was the winner; Levy mucked down to 21,000 while Powell boosts his stack up to 34,500.